Classical Reviews

Theorin, Hallé, Stenz, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

philip Radcliffe Friday, 19 October 2012

It is considerate of Manchester’s two professional symphony orchestras to have organised their opening Wagner celebration salvoes so that they dovetail so neatly.

Weltethos: CBSO, Gardner, Royal Festival Hall

alexandra Coghlan Monday, 08 October 2012

The quest for the spiritual in the musical has been the dominant preoccupation of Jonathan Harvey’s since his earliest works. Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy has been an acknowledged influence on the composer, who has made a career of exploring what Steiner described as “the special character of the individual note”, which “expands into a melody and harmony leading straight into the world of the spirit”.

War and Peace: Russian National Orchestra, LPO, Jurowski, Royal Festival Hall

David Nice Saturday, 06 October 2012

Can two half-orchestras playing together ever be better than one well-established organism? The second and third concerts in yet another special project masterminded by Vladimir Jurowski, drawing together British and Russian perspectives on war and peace, proved that they could. It may have been disappointing to find the Russian National Orchestra on Thursday evening launching so cold-bloodedly into the feral start of Vaughan Williams’s Sixth Symphony.

Classical CDs Weekly: MacMillan, Mendelssohn, Stephen Hough

graham Rickson Saturday, 06 October 2012

James MacMillan: Veni, Veni Emmanuel, A Deep but Dazzling Darkness, Ì (A meditation on Iona) Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic/James MacMillan (Challenge Classics)

Coote, BBCSO, Saraste, Barbican Hall

David Nice Thursday, 04 October 2012

Somehow the manic cry of “Scooby-Doo man!” from the back of the stalls didn’t seem too incongruous. We were in the thick of Shostakovich’s craziest symphony, the Fourth, composed in the mid 1930s when such maverick Russian talent was about to be stamped on and potentially quite a sledgehammer of a season opener for the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Fretwork/Hilliard Ensemble, Wigmore Hall

alexandra Coghlan Wednesday, 03 October 2012

“For if their musicke please in earthly things/How would it sound if strung with heavenly strings?” Listening to viol consort Fretwork last night, the audience at the Wigmore Hall didn’t have to imagine the answer to Gibbons’ question. Listening to the vitality and variety of tone colour this group so reliably produce, it’s hard to remember that this is ear(th)ly music – hardly the wan and consumptive sound so many people still stubbornly associate with viols.

Hahn, BBC Philharmonic, Mena, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

philip Radcliffe Monday, 01 October 2012

Wagner was not averse to highlights being plucked from the mighty Ring, even though it is an all-encompassing drive-through drama. Perhaps it’s as well, since the bicentenary celebrations of his birth are getting up steam and concert planners are at pains to pull out a few plums. After all, we can’t wallow in the whole of the cycle all of the time.

Northern Sinfonia, Zehetmair, The Sage Gateshead

Igor Toronyi-Lalic Sunday, 30 September 2012

Sting, Debbie Harry, the Pet Shop Boys, Brahms, Mozart, Schumann. This is the kind of thing an average year throws up for the Gateshead-based Northern Sinfonia. Their visits to London are mostly to provide a backing track for the top pop acts. Which is not only perverse but verging on the criminal.

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jurowski, Royal Festival Hall

David Nice Sunday, 30 September 2012

What, another review of an LPO/Jurowski concert in less than a week? Reasoning the need, it only has to be said that other orchestras may kick off their seasons by mixing the unfamiliar with core repertoire, but none would dare launch with not one but two programmes featuring this only-connect kind of singularity (and more to come in the “War and Peace” series next week).